Martin Skoula
Registered User
- Oct 18, 2017
- 11,788
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Players don't fall from a top 5 pick do 17th just because they were sick. There were very real questions about his game (and still are).
Also Zaitsev has never been a top pairing D at any point.
What are those questions in his game still? He's successfully playing shutdown minutes against men in the AHL playoff semis at 19 and initiating a lot of physical play. His offense is legitimately the weakest part of his game right now because he's asked to hold back to develop his defensive game the same way the coaching staff did with Rielly last year.
Mono ruins almost a year of physical and mental progress, it isn't just "being sick".